- Simply Me-

G for George, D for Dragon

2010-07-11T13:55:00.009+08:00

It was last May that I managed to meet up in Johor Bahru with my friends who worked in Singapore. We watched "Shrek Final Chapter" in Johor Bahru City Square which was very meaningful and enjoyable. Next come the big question, "where to eat? "

I remember reading about a place in JB and happened to be strongly recommended by my friend, Paul who has been there once before. After a few phone calls ,a few U-turns (over and over again, because we kept missing the entry point) and a couple of JB city tour, we FINALLY found the bloody restaurant. In my mind, I thought "this has better be good, or I will slay my friend Paul!! "

The first step into the restaurant was intriguing indeed with the warm lighting and also the medieval and knightly decorations.

The very nice design on the wall.. wonder if they are real??

The atmosphere is very warm and comfortably homely

The knight plates

The unique carvings

For a moment there, I felt like a character in the "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table". =)

For the amount of ka-ching that we paid for this meal, it worthed every single cent of it and satisfaction level did nearly hit the ceiling, I suppose.... Here are our orders :

Lamb in Red Wine

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

The lamb was very tender with the mild taste of red wine. Every bite brings surprise to your taste bud. Like the thick sauce..yum yum!!

Grilled Sirloin Steak with Rosemary and Turmeric sauce

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

The sirloin steak was grilled to perfection and well done might be a bit too tough for those who enjoy the tender bite of sirloin steak. Medium would be perfect! Love the slight tinge of Rosemary and combination with turmeric adds to the authentic taste. Simply amazing.

Grilled Fish in Butter and Tamarind Sauce

Rating: ♥♥♥♥

I enjoyed the butterly taste on the grilled fish fillet. The tamarind sauce enhance the freshness of the fish fillet (provided the fish is fresh of course!! ). Every bite is a combination of "butterly" and "tamarindly" taste... A very simple dish, but satisfying nevertheless. Not a very big portion, might not be enough for those who has big appetite.

Chicken Chop in Black Pepper Sauce

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Simple dish as it is, this is a dish I would order to rate the competency of a restaurant that I have never been to. And the dish did not fail me and in fact, passed with flying colours. The chicken chop was tender and I had to mention about the super duper pepperly sauce or I would not be doing justice to the chicken chop!! Every bite is heaven, and did I mention about the super thick black pepper sauce??!! Ten thumbs up!! (opps, I only have two thumbs, =p)

Rich Chocolate Fudge in Chocolate Sauce with Vanilla Ice Cream

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Last but not least, the desert!!! and I'll let the picture do the talking... then again, I must mention about the rich chocolate fudge which is very moist and rich. My conclusion is, a rich chocolate fudge should not be served without the loyal companion---- Vanilla Ice Cream and the Chocolate Sauce (preferably hot)!!

By the way, the name of the place that anyone should pay a visit whenever they are in Johor Bahru is:

George & Dragon Cafe

No 1, Jln Glasiar , Taman Tasek,

Johor Bahru

L for Laksa!

2010-01-28T22:27:00.008+08:00

I am very sure of this statement : "There will be time when every Kuchingites who live outside from Kuching will miss Kuching food" . This is what I did this time when I suddenly miss Kuching bery bery much :

Plan : To prepare Kuching most famous Laksa

Ingredients needed :

a) Bean sprout

b) Shredded chicken breast meat

c) Beaten egg (fried and cut into slices)

d) Prawn

e) Lime

f) Belacan (pounded Belacan with dried chili)

g) Bee hoon

h) The Laksa Soup!!! (using the Laksa paste imported from Kuching)

Results:

WAYS TO EAT LAKSA SARAWAK:

POUR THE GRAVY SOUP AND DON'T FORGET LIME AND MOST IMPORTANTLY THE BELACAN !!!

Conclusion:

It's finger licking, mouth-watering, kick-assing good~~~

IRODORI SUSHI --- Honto ni oishi neh....

2009-12-24T13:01:00.007+08:00

When I am sick, sad or down, I would turn to shopping and eating, especially when quality food is around. This is exactly what I did this time around when I am still sick but gotten bored of resting at home.

Me and my friend drove 45 minutes to Kluang for nice dinner and movie, as a treatment to my sickness. We went to this Japanese restaurant recommended by another collegue of mine as a MUST TRY -- IRODORI SUSHI

The waitress at the door greeted us with welcoming phrases in Japanese and well, I am not very sure if that is the correct way to pronounce it, but it sounds a bit like a curse word to me... =p

We were handed the menu and OMG, the menu is full with colourful Sashimis, Sushis, Dons, Ramens, Makis......... It was very hard to make our decision, and we finally made up our mind and placed our orders. While waiting for our order to come, they served the appetizers :

Steamed Green Soybean @ 1.90 per plate

The average waiting time for an order to be served is around 15- 20 minutes which is considered acceptable if the food compensates for it.

Dish number 1:

鳗鱼烧 Unagi Set @ RM 22
(includes a bowl of rice, Miso soup, pickles, slices of scrambled egg, salad,
and two slices of fruits)

♫ The Unagi was grilled to perfection with the sauce. The fish was tender and juicy and very appetizing. Love the colour of the Unagi!! The portion is just nice and recommended for those who prefer balanced meal.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥

Dish number 2 :

盐烤青花鱼 Saba Shioyaki Set @ RM 19
(includes a bowl of rice, Miso soup, pickles, slices of scrambled egg, salad,
and two slices of fruits)

♫ On the other hand, the Saba Shioyaki is grilled with just salt and nothing else. The natural taste of the fish is locked in and the lime juice accentuate it even more. Every bite will send you at least sky high if not to the heaven...The set meal is a suitable portion for those who enjoys balanced meal.

Ratings: ♥♥♥♥♥

Dish number 3:

花式卷寿司 Hana Maki @ RM 12

♫ When I ordered the Hana Maki, I was expecting something if not better at least on par with the ones you get at Sushi King, and what do you know......
The one at IRODORI is even better than those you get elsewhere. Served at a diameter of approximately 6 cm, it contains tempura prawn, cucumber, unagi, egg and crab stick!! No wonder of the size. The fish roe around the Maki adds more flavour to it. And the combination is perfect!! Would be better if it is in a smaller bite size.
Not recommended for those who are on the first date!!! Hahaha... Ladies eating the Maki might scared the guys away.....

Ratings: ♥♥♥♥

And the last order --the DESSERT!!

抹茶白玉 Mocha Ice-cream Mochi @ RM 5

♫ The ice cream was splendid. It is a bit bitter and full of the taste of green tea. Amazingly, the taste of the bitter will be gone if you eat it together with the red bean paste and mochi!!
And the blended peanuts did a good job in upgrading the taste of the ice cream!!

I felt really HEALTHY after eating the ice cream and surprisingly, my cough is gone!!! (would anyone believe me??? )

Ratings: ♥♥♥♥

The green tea is bottomless @ RM 1. Unlike Sushi King which is free, but for the quality food that you get, what does RM 1 means? And more great news, in conjunction with their 1st year anniversary , customers are entitled for 30% discount on the bill.

You want more good news?????

There is no more.....hahahaha....

Overall food rating : 8.5 out of 10
Overall service rating: 8.0 out of 10 (very eng tao waiters!!! =p )
Overall satisfaction : 9.0 out of 10
(good quality food+eng tao waiters = very satisfied!!)

Restaurant: IRODORI SUSHI

Address: 26AB and 28AB, 1st floor, Jalan Sentol Satu, Kluang, Johor

Bath for 800 times??

2009-12-06T14:44:00.006+08:00

Well, it seems like the Apartment in Phuket offers a lot of things to "SEE" in the See View room. It must be something really " interesting"

and after you have "see" all the views, you can pay with taking 800 " baths" in the hotel bathroom.... -_-'''

忍者Ninja

2009-11-06T19:49:00.005+08:00

Watched the movie Ninja last Saturday when we were supposed to watch Surrogate but the ticket was sold out.... So I went in the cinema thinking this is the Ninja movie starring Rain from Korea.... then the movie started....

Starting scene was at a Japanese dojo where everyone shows their skills in using different weapons. And there he was, Casey (starring Scott Adkins) showing his washboard abs and also excellent martial art skills. Then there's Namiko, daughter of the Sensei, who has a crush on Casey. On the other hand, Masazuka another student in the dojo was really jealous and full of hatred towards Casey.

Until one day, the Sensei asked Casey and Masazuka to fight each other using wooden swords, and Masazuka went wild and tried to kill Casey with a real sword, then the real story began when Masazuka was kicked out from the dojo for trying to kill Casey.

There were not many climax for the movie as the storyline was quite flat. Casey and Namiko were asked to take care of the treasure chest of an ancient ninja, the Yoroi Bitsu from the falling into the hand of Masazuka, the villain.

Though the plot of the movie was a bit oh-so boring, the martial arts presented in the movie was clearly well executed and truly worth watching!!! kudos to the martial art director of the movie!

Rating：　6.5/10

Satisfaction!!

2009-09-05T00:02:00.004+08:00

I reached the peak of Gunung Pertawai!!! woohooo!!!

Before I started my journey, I was damn kin tio man....because the highest mountain that I have ever climb is just 750 m plus plus nia. So this time I am challenging my own record like that lor....

We traveled to the foothill and set up a camp for the night before the climb up the next day.

On the day of the climb itself, which we named as "XPDC Hari Kemerdekaan", everyone was really excited and anxious. We were told before the trip that we need to make 12 climbs before reaching the peak.

" Kena naik 12 kali, kali ke-12 itulah puncak Gunung Pertawai....kalau naik kosong kena lebih kurang 5 jam...."

My reaction was like............. (-_-)'''

So here we go....the climb was not very steep, but keep on going up and up and up....

we were so tired even Am cannot control his shaking.....

"Am, puncak ke berapa dah?? "
"Kedua "

After an hour later.......
"Sekarang ni kita kat puncak ke-berapa?"
"Tak tau lah, ingat naik je, lupa kira....."

Haha......everyone lost count after a while and then just keep on going, because we do not want to reach the camp too late at night.

and after 4 hours later...........

I get to witness this magnificent view with my own eyes!!!! such a touching moment that I nearly cried.......

All for the sake of Hari Kemerdekaan + Setting up Camera traps + Enforcement patrol!!

And we only took 2 hours to go down and reached the camp by 4.30pm. Not bad not bad at all...

Backpacking in Phuket

2009-08-08T12:51:00.007+08:00

The best thing of travelling alone is that, I get to sleep as long as I want to, stay at one place as long as I prefer, and go to places that I would love to visit.

I stayed in a guesthouse situated just in front of the Karon beach....

a room for only 450 baht per night

The room shown to me was originally 600 baht and after bargaining, I managed to get it for 450 baht per night (which was worth my money!!) indeed. Another room was a sea-view room cost 600 baht. Here I am living just a road across from the beach, who need a sea-view room when i can save 150 baht??! =p

Below is my conversation with the guesthouse staff :

staff: hello miss, you want to rent a room??
me : yes, how much is your room?
staff: my friend's house is very cheap
me: who is your friend??
staff: my friend's house has many type of room.....
me: who is your friend??????
staff: let me show you the room first
me: I want to know who is your friend before I see the room!!

End up, the guesthouse is called " My friend's house" ....... -_-''' bugger!!

I rest in the room and slept 'til evening, just in time to see the sunset at Karon beach. So I took a long stroll by the beach, enjoying the strong wind blowing on me, as if washing all my trouble and sorrows away.

Karon beach before sunset

The next day, I rent a motorbike for 200 baht and pumped in 50 baht worth of gasoline and went around the Phuket island. I stopped at all the places that looks interesting. Hence, these are the places that I set foot on :

Wat Kata

Wat Chalong

Rawai beach

Promthep cape --- my fave... 5 stars

Notice the cape? that is the place that you should be, the southerst tip of the island..

Waves are crashing hard on the rocks

The oh-very-calm part of the island..the lagoon

My favorite part of the trip is that I managed to set foot on the most southern part of the Phuket island and man the wind is strong!! They should set a minimum weight of tourist who wish to go to the cape, if not people would be blown away easily.

Once I reached the tip, it felt like I have reached the unreachable, achieved the unachievable..and the strong wind has certainly blown away all my unhappiness that I had, and standing there, is a brand new me....all cleanse up and reborn...... (wah, so poetic all of a sudden)

In short:

I had a damn good time in Phuket!!

Self discovery journey-- Succeeded!!

2009-08-04T21:30:00.012+08:00

Was in Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary from 26th July until 30th July for Tiger signs and camera trap placement training with our Tiger expert, Dr. John Goodrich.

Tiger pugmarks found

me in action : measuring the pugmark

Group picture taken during one of the field trip

After the training finished, I took the earliest flight that I could catch to Phuket island for a holiday. Well, my journey began in a minivan with another 9 strangers from the airport. The minivan to all the beaches costs only 180 baht per person. Which is a lot cheaper than a taxi which costs 750 baht.

The place that I stayed is called Sugar Palm Grand Hillside at Kata beach , which is only RM106 per night. It is a boutique hotel which has really nice and sophisticated designs. The only draw back is the stairs that you would need to climb while carrying your oh-so-huge suitcase in case the bogey car guy is not available to bring it up for you.

the view from the hotel balcony

On the first night, we took a tuk-tuk from Kata beach to Patong beach which costs us 400 baht per trip. We decided to try out the oh-so-famous Phuket seafood. We settled at Savoey Restaurant which is located in Patong beach area.

very fresh Phuket lobster = 75 baht/100g

which one which one???

After we chose what we wanted for the night, the "Stars" were sent to the "dressing room" for some "brushing up" ........

the place where it all started for us and ended for others

The menu for the night was:

1. mango juice = 70 baht

2. sex on the beach = 140 baht

Sabai-sabai = 140 baht

4. charcoal grilled squid =300 baht

5. oven cheese baked Phuket lobster = 1300 baht

6.baked tiger prawns = 1200 baht

And the taste and pleasure, is priceless, and for everything else, there's always mastercard!!

Oh ya, the Restaurant charged 7 % service charge and the total bill for the night was 3670 baht for 3 person. Well spent money I would say.

The night life in Patong beach seems to be never ending. The neon lights were lit everywhere and there are people every corner. Perfect for those who enjoys company and crowds.

Hong Kong trip 2008 - Gain some lose some

2009-05-02T13:09:00.008+08:00

Day in Hong Kong: 2

Plans : Go as many places as possible with as little money as we can

Plan number 1 : EAT!!

The place that we stayed in was Stanford Hotel in Mongkok and very strategically situated where shopping and eating places were all just within a stone throw away. We ordered a bowl of fish porridge and some noodles for tasting. In a nutshell, the porridge was superb and the rest was just a big letdown. A bowl of fish porridge cost us HKD $16 , while the noodles were cheaper at the price of HKD $8-$10.

Next, we headed to our main interest for today : Disneyland !

Tung Chung Line , transit to Disneyland line

All you need to do is just hop on the "to Tung Chung and Disneyland Resort Line "at the subway and you will be on your way. However, you will need to get down at Sunny Bay station to change to Disneyland Line

First detour: Ngong Ping (Tung Chung)

But then, before Disneyland (which will cost us the whole day), we decided to go all the way until the Tung Chung station and walk to Ngong Ping 360 which consists of a cable car ride and also a themed village etc. The ride and entrace fee and all is around HKD$ 198.

We thought since we are going to Disneyland anyway, so we decided not to take that package. Instead, we bought the one trip cable car ticket + bus ticket around Lantau Island for just HKD$81.

A view from the cable car towards Ngong Ping

Overlooking the giant Buddha statue from the cable car

Personally, the best part of the whole tour in Lantau Island is of course the giant Buddha statue and also the Po Lin Monastery.

Magnificent Buddha statue

One of the beautifully sculptured statue

Next stop : Disneyland

The entrance fee was HKD $ 325 ! Upon entering the main entrance, I have this dream-come-true feeling in my heart. At last, I am here!!!!

I was there to observe the renowned Disney Parade

Just like any other themed park, Disneyland is just like .....10 times packer!!! Lining up half an hour just for a half hour ride........and the worst thing is, all the Disney character were kinda " lock up" in a bird cage. And I thought they should be scattered around the park and let people bumped into them and take pictures with them. Guess not......

The Small Small World ....lalala...

Fountain outside Disneyland main entrance

In front of Sleeping Beauty's Castle, and we could not get in...WTH

The whole Disneyland trip was a big letdown, at the same time, heard my childhood dream shattered ...And to those who intend to visit Disneyland while they are in Hong Kong, a word of advice ....

You might want to consider going to Ocean Park instead..

End of Day 2.

Conclusion :
1. The trip to Ngong Ping in Tung Chung was interesting and worth it
2. Slashed Disneyland out from the "must-visit-place" list
3. Bring in outside food to eat in Disneyland unless your dad can print money or
money can grow out from trees at your house!
4. Hard to meet polite Hong Kong people

Salt-Baked Fish (Hu Xu Shen Ikan Bakar Garam)

2009-04-26T00:16:00.005+08:00

I stayed in Bukit Serdang for almost 2 years and yet I have never discovered this eating heaven up until now.

Shunza brought us there and we were introduced first time to the renowned ''Ikan Bakar Garam'' which has attracted countless food lover from all over.

We ordered the Salt-Baked fish@RM 23 (of course) and it did not let us down. Not only is the flesh is juicy and sweet, it is slightly salty and tasted even more delicious with the home-made sauce.

Next dish was the Deep-Fried Sotong Rings @RM 15.

My friend could not even wait for me to finish taking this picture and his fork was already ''attacking'' the poor squid.... =p Another worth mentioned dish as it was fried to near perfection with the addition of curry powder and tumeric.

Another dish was the Steamed Tilapia in Light Soya Sauce @RM 20 which was steamed inside an aluminium foil. The seasoning was just right without affecting the natural flavour of the fish.

The Claypot Japanese Tofu is a bit of a let down, especially when our high expectations built up after a couple of 'thumbs-up'' dishes. Cooked with quite a lot of the ingredients (shrimps, tofu, chinese cabbage, etc) though. Suitable for those who prefer milder taste

With reasonable price and finger-licking-good food, Hu Xu Shen is the exact place to head to for those who enjoys good food.

Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Address: No. 249-B，Jalan 2，Kawasan 6，43300 Seri Kembangan，Selangor.

Trip to Hong Kong 2008 - Arriving in Macau and away

2009-04-25T17:31:00.011+08:00

It has been quite hard for me to gather my thoughts for my post on the trip to Hong Kong last December.

After I came back from the trip, I was contented in a way that this was actually my first trip outside the country with my own hard-earned cash!!

The trip to Macau was alright until the moment we went past the Immigration counter.

For one thing, the line was long, however, the process was quite fast! We thought it was because Macau's Immigration Officers were super efficient....

We were wrong! Found out that it was fast because the officers were unbelievably RUDE! Visitors' passport were thrown around and their face looked as if we owed them a few billion dollars. So much for the "Hospitality" in Macau!!

Well, it did not spoil our mood because we were warned against the rudeness of Macau and Hong Kong people before.

The ferry trip across to Hong Kong island was long and I had terrible boat sick! However, the seats were very comfortable and spacious. Single trip is around RM75+

We bought the "Octopus Card" (our Touch 'n Go's siblings) right away and head to Mong Kok where our hotel is situated.

So lucky that we saw some hong kong movie star shooting a program at Mong Kok. Wow!!

The transportation in Hong Kong is well developed and very convenient. All we have to do is just identified which station we want to descend, and the signboard will lead the rest of the way...

First stop : Avenue of stars

One of the must seen place in Hong Kong is Avenue of Stars ( cousin of Hollywood Walk of Fame), where the famous artists from Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and other region placed their hand prints.

As night falls, transformation takes place............................................

Everyone gathered at the waterfront and waited patiently, for something important. Their eyes were glued to the other side of the river... By 8.30pm, jeng jeng jeng jeng...... The announcer started to introduce the program that we all were waiting for, the "Musical Light Performance"

One word, breathtaking and we were literally shaking while watching the spectacular show, mostly because the wind was strong and FREEZING COLD!!!!!!

Lalalalala

2009-04-23T21:09:00.005+08:00

Enough of grudge here and there....I guess there are things that you cannot control and the way to deal with it is just by playing it cool..

Saw this truck on the way to Merapoh, Pahang. At first I thought I must have been driving for too long until my sight turned poor...

After confirmation with my friend who was in the car with me, we decided to follow the car close enough to take this.....

Hard to say whether their English is too good or the Malay is too lousy...haha... But interesting how "Trailer" can be " Teralla"...

Remember the song, "shalalalala, shalala in the morning.....oh oh oh, shalalalala......" ?? This particular song was stucked in my head after I saw the truck for quite some time, =p

I am little red riding hood!!!

2009-03-23T22:44:00.003+08:00

Last friday night around 11.30pm, we ended up in a camera shop in Muar. (Please do not ask me what were we doing there at that time)....

And there I was looking for a camera cover for my Nikon 3200 which has been so loyal since forever and served me well. So I decided to buy an "outfit" for it instead.

I guess I must have been out of my mind, because I have decided to buy one of the most striking camera cover I have ever seen in my whole life.......

Being a low profile person, this is just not me....but I was thinking what the heck, time has come for a change to take place......

Jeng jeng jeng jeng........................

Ok ok, I can already see some funny looks on your face.......I dont mind constructive critics......hahaha....

P/S: I will try to be extra low profile if I am ever to bring this camera pouch into the field I will make sure I stand still when I encounter wild animals... Don't want to scare them with my glowing "lunch box"....haha...

Taman Negara Sg Relau, Merapoh

2009-03-09T23:31:00.009+08:00

Went to Taman Negara Sg Relau in Merapoh last week. We were very honored to be invited to give a simple training to the DWNP staff and the local people there on Prey Occupancy Survey that WCS did.

It was quite an experience sharing our knowledge and what we have been through the past 5 months or so with other people (though we are still considered as ''newbies''). At the same time, we learnt a lot from them too which makes the trip even more worth it.

Bringing the participants along through the 3 days 2 nights trip really made me realized how much I missed going for field trips. How much I missed bathing in the streams, sleeping under the dark sky filled with bright stars.....

It's always easier said than done, but not everyone can endure living in the wilderness. Me either, but with my teammates beside me, I know I will be alright.

Being in another national park than Endau Rompin National Park, is a new experience for me. The atmosphere is definitely different than in ERNP, but the scenery and landscape is nevertheless breathtaking .

One of the places that one must visit is the Kuala Juram. The water is super duper cool and refreshing. Swimming in the stream is really one hell of an enjoyment. Kuala Juram is also the entry point for those who are interested to climb the renowned Gunung Tahan.

Menara Seraya which is situated between Kuala Juram and Sg Relau is one viewing tower that allows us to view almost everything that is in the Park, including the magnificent Gunung Tahan. The sunset view from the tower was said to be very romantic , ;p too bad we missed the sunset(we were too occupied at Kuala Juram until we forgot the time) and also the sky was cloudy when we went up the tower.

Another place to worth visiting would be the saltlick in Bumbun Rimau. A saltlick is salt deposit where animals visit regularly to lick. This would be a nice place for animal watching because of the frequent visits of animals to the area.

However, artificial salt licks in block forms (shown by the picture above) were placed all around the place to attract animals.

In conclusion, Sg Relau National Park is well maintained and is definitely worth visiting. And I am very honoured to be able to spent a week of training there.

Waterfalls

2009-03-04T22:11:00.008+08:00

I guess in my past life, I must be a fish, because in this present life, I LOVE to see water so much..be it a stroll at the beach or the magnificent drumming sound of waterfall flowing endlessly..

The place I have been working the most is probably Endau Rompin National Park...Now that I even feel as if it's my second home...The waterfall on top is Upeh Guling waterfall. Easiest to get to... only about half and hour plus plus of trekking from Kuala Jasin.

Unique rock formation can be found at Upeh Guling. However, due to the strong current, no swimming is allowed at all of the waterfall found in the National Park...But one need not to swim in the water to feel the beauty of the waterfall... We only need our hearts to feel the rhythm of the water falling on the rock bed...

Batu Hampar waterfall is very near from Kuala Marong, about half and hour of leisure walk while listening to the bird chirpings and cicadas calling...The picture below shows the renowed Batu Hampar waterfall in Endau Rompin National Park. This waterfall is consider as an appetizer before we reach the so called "main course"...

After around 4km hike up and down the hill (thank god there is a tourist trail !) We will finally reach the main course of the day, the Buaya Sangkut Waterfall....

Overlooking the magnificent waterfall, one will realize how small one is compare to the creation of mother nature. Very suitable for some reflection time upon ourselves, more on self indulgence I guess.

After working for long long hours in the office, why not embrace the nature with open arms and open mind.....

Forget about all the work and schedules, here, we only listen to one voice, the voice of our heart united with the cascading sound of the waterfall!

I scratched my own clean record!!

2009-02-04T22:48:00.006+08:00

I woke up today feeling much better than the day before. Still feeling a bit feverish and coughing here and there, not forgetting a bit of the running nose and oh ya, some sore throat too. Apart from that, I am OK...

So I decided to go down to our WCS Official Restaurant to have some breakfast. Judging from the Roti Canai that I can finished, I was 70% recovered. (100% is when I am in tip-top condition)

Then me and my dear collegue wanted to send our car to fix. So we walked out of the restaurant GLORIOUSLY all the way through the kitchen.

After we went to the workshop and cham siang with the Taukeneo what to fix and so, suddenly my collegue pull me aside and said to me, '' Do you know what is the thing we forgot to do?? "

I was a bit blur then because I could not get what she meant....Then she said, " We stormed out of the restaurant without paying the bills!!!!"

Felt the lightning struck my brain for a moment there.

"Wah.........I have never done that before and please believe me that I have no intention of eating without paying...." that was what I thought.

Luckily the girl at the counter did not even realise we were gone without paying our bills. But then I still take the courtesy of being honest and went to pay my bills and apologizing at the same time.

Phew...........what a day........

Guay Cai

2009-01-12T00:42:00.005+08:00

Dear all, meet Guay Cai....A tortoise that I met at Kelantan. It is so the cute and I have decided to bring him back with me.

I have kidnapped him from a shop in Kelantan and stuffed him into the car before anyone notice and before anyone realized, we were already in Kelana Jaya. (After a series of headaches, and vomitting along the way)

And the blue sibling of his is named Leo. Leo resides in somewhere known to very little people as he was kidnapped too from the same location.

Now, Leo and Guay Cai lives happily ever after along with other members of the office.....haha....

---------THE END---------------------------

A trip to the heart of the giants-Part 2

2009-01-07T18:13:00.007+08:00

After the trip to Kuala Gandah, we decided to go to another conservation centre 1 hour drive from Kuala Gandah.

The South Jenderak Gaur Conservation Centre is located in Felda Jenderak. The superstar there is Isnin- the only one descendent of wild-caught Gaur (Its father is Ahad which died).

Gaurs are consider as the largest species of wild cattle. Their shoulder heights measure at 2 metres tall and weigh 1000kg to 1500 kg. The numbers of Gaur in Malaysia is declining due to human poaching mainly for consumption and hunting trophies. The government is working to conserve the species by setting up conservation centres like the one they have in Jenderak Selatan.
Isnin (shown in the picture above) is the dominant male in his group. And man he is one HANDSOME gaur. All of my life, I have never seen and touched a gaur this close!!! It likes to be stroked at the head and near the butt (don't ask me why). Though it is huge, but I can feel it's gentle nature. Mainly because it is already used to having humans around.

From the picture above you can see the body of the Gaur......SHINNING in with a layer of oil.... my god!! It looks like shinning hair scene from the shampoo commercial you see in tv. Wow, it was really cool!!!

The coolest thing of all, I have touched a Gaur and you will not be able to do that in the wild...Or you will end up dead meat..... Gaurs are powerful, and I mean really powerful!!!

The trip to Kuala Gandah and Gaur Conservation Centre in Jenderak ended well and I went home enlightened. To be able to have such close contacts with these animals really make me realized they are so vulnerable and it is up to us to help them.

And to those kids who went to the Kuala Gandah Elephant Conservation Centre, I do sincerely hope that they can grow up to become a conservationist to help the endangered species or soon-to-be endangered species.

A trip to the heart of the giants-Part 1

2009-01-04T22:37:00.009+08:00

We went to Kuala Gandah in Pahang for outing during the holiday. Kuala Gandah houses the Elephant Conservation Centre and there are altogether 15 elephants in the centre.

The activity in the centre started with a 15 minutes video on the work done by the PERHILITAN on relocation of elephants and thus the setting up of the conservation centre to house some of the orphans and problemed elephants.

Personally, i find the video quite depressing because the relocation work involves traquilizing the elephants, dragging with heavy chains which is really unavoidable to ensure the translocation work is running smooth. I could not help but to feel sorry for them to have to leave their family and home.

The elephants are released into a electrically fenced area to give them more space to roam and play in.

Around 2pm everyday, the elephants will be led out by their trainers out to the field and into the river for a bath.

From here, one can see how much the trainer is bonded to the elephant that they trained. The trainer bath and scrub the elephants in the river and at the same time the elephants helped to bath the trainers too.

After the bath, it is the feeding time!!! Which I believe will be the happiest time for the elephants. They were given banana trunks as food. The elephants will smash the banana trunks with their feet and then eat.

Note the baby elephant's hind legs in the bottom picture.....They were crossed!!!!....what a relaxing way to enjoy your meal!! cute~~

The highlight of the day was when I met Mawar. An eight year old female elephant which is so very cute and friendly. It is so adorable that I have feel affectionate towards her in almost an instant...

Elephants are just magnificent creatures. They have the most beautiful and brightest eyes. They are just so gentle and loving beings if not being provoke (for they have been in captivity for a long time). Wild elephants are still dangerous though.

Us human has always been so selfish and too indulged in the greediness that we always forgot that we share the earth with other living beings that have the same right to live as us. And this is slowly carving out the path of destruction for the earth that we are living in.

The day in Kuala Gandah has enlighten me a lot. Part 2 will be on Isnin the Gaur at Jenderak.

New Year New Resolution

2009-01-01T11:41:00.003+08:00

With or without counting down, 2009 is still making its way in and will rock the year! My new year eve was spent shopping for groceries for BBQ the next day, eating at Murni, and watching Transporter 3.

Looking back at 2008,
~I have went to Bangkok for MIST training even when I have not started working with WCS (I happened to be in Bangkok for vacation with family) ;

~I have covered more than 1500km square of forested area with my collegues, CP and Tie along with other Orang Asli....

~I have went to Hong Kong with my own hard-earned cash. Very proud of myself.

~And many many more small small accomplishments that I will save for myself to indulge on. wahaha

So the New Year resolution for this year :

1. Backpacking to Cambodia

2. Buy a new bikini

3. Learn Japanese

4. Be more patient and tolerate

5. Meet more friends

6. Save enough money for a DSLR

7,8, 9,........ to be added in along the way...

Haha... Lets embrace the new year with open arms and may all good things start well and end well.

祝我生日快乐

2008-12-27T10:50:00.001+08:00

在农历一九八三年十二月初一的早上，在古晋中央医院的产房，有一位可爱的女婴呱呱落地了。

妇女的预产期原本是在阳历1983年12月尾的。奈何肚子里的女婴住的太舒服了，并不想太早出生。

就这样，女婴在妈妈的肚子里有多住了几天，之后才肯乖乖的出生。

女婴已出生，皮肤颇为黝黑，脚丫也还算大。女婴妈妈的同事都说女婴长大后一定是“八号脚”。。。。这下好了，还真是一语成践。。。。。

就这样，女婴被取了个名字，叫温慕芬。。叫慕芬是因为女婴屬猪，女婴爸爸想确保女婴一辈子不愁吃，所以取了两个“草字头”的名（因为猪吃草）。

女婴经过了二十几年，已经长大成人。从少年期的叛逆，到现在的任性，没有一次不让父母担心。

所以女婴在她二十六岁生日的今天，想要谢谢爸爸妈妈，因为他们总是无条件的付出，无条件的纵容，不过女婴已经懂得洁身自爱，凡是都会冷静的思考，所以爸妈可以放十万的心。

女婴也要告诉爸妈，每年的十二月初一，爸妈与弟弟们的祝福短信，是女婴生命里源源不绝的动力，

No entry

2008-12-25T23:33:00.003+08:00

Saw this very interesting sign when I was at Mong Kong East station in Hong Kong.

The escalator is heading up. But we are not allowed to enter....... ???

"Steak" it down???!!

2008-12-25T18:34:00.007+08:00

While I am waiting for my inspiration to work on my article about my recent Hong Kong-Macau trip, guess what, it's Christmas Eve and last night, we decided to have our Christmas Eve dinner at the Cowboy Station steak near the Kelana Jaya Lake.

To reduce the guilt of eating too much calories, we actually went swimming before the dinner, and by telling you this, you can roughly know how starving we were before the dinner.

One thing we notice about the steakhouse is the unique ambiance, situated by the Kelana Jaya Lake (which does not look like what it is during the night) and the nicely decorated interior with the feeling of soft breeze constantly.

We sat down with high hopes of getting an excellent steak served as being commented some of the newspapers. Each of us ordered 6 different steak which included lambs, chickens, beef, and fish.

While waiting for the rest of us to arrive, 3 of us were seated and cold plain water was served. "This is really a good beginning to start with" I thought.

As soon as all of us were here, we started to order our food. Being a steakhouse which the owner claimed as renowned, the waiter did not show any profesialism because he did not ask if we wanted our steak to be Well done or Medium. Well what the heck, not a big deal though. Not soon after we placed our order, hot buns with butter were served. Quite satisfied at that moment, we chit chatted and patiently waited for our food to be served.

After 60 minutes, our appetizer was not served yet, let alone our main courses. After we checked with the waiter, he told us that they did not have smoked salmon and nachos. The thing that started to piss us off is , HE DID NOT EVEN BOTHER TO TELL US.

So much for the first impression. We waited again patiently for our food to come. After really long wait, (about an hour plus or so), our food finally came.

I ordered a Mixed Grill with "eggs, beef, fish, chicken, lamb and sausage served with garden salad" (quoted from the menu). Looking at my plate, I was started to wondering if I have forgotten what sausages look like, because I ain't seeing any. And do those vegetables looked like Garden Salad to you???? Unless Garden salad means that the vegetables was planted in you own GARDEN.

M ordered a ''Cowboy BBQ chicken" which was portrayed as the best-seller in the steakhouse. The order came looking ''decent'', and it tasted nothing more than a normal fried chicken with a lot of chilli sauce on top. Since when BBQ = Fried ??? . According to the menu, it should be served with the Cowboy sauce (which is equivalent to Chilli sauc so to speak).

The two other steaks which received more positive comments are those two above. Cowboy chicken was up to the standard of normal chicken steak with nothing more special about it. (picture on top).

On the other hand, the bottom picture was the Garlic steak which tasted better especially the creamy garlic sauce which managed to win back a few more points that has been cut off.

Worst thing of the night was when A's Lamb Cutlet was mixed up with other table's order and she was "half-forced" to take the ''Love Me tenderloin". I must say that the "Love "is really strong as a rock because it tasted like one. Being overcooked and not marinated or served with any sauce, the tenderloin taste like nothing but rubber.

Well, if you think we have seen the worst then you will need to think again.

We have waited for more than 10 minutes for our bill and ended up going to the counter in-person to pay. We were even charged 10% service charge on the bill.

In a nutshell, this is a place with nice ambience and unique concept to start with, but the service needs to be improved very much. Another suggestion is to hire more staffs as it looks as if the steakhouse has insufficient "TRAINED" staff. After all, customers' satisfaction is the only thing that keeps them coming back.

Above all, we still had fun.....

For those who are interested to try out, please visit:
Cowboy Station (Kelana Jaya)
Kelana Jaya Lakeside,
Jln Stadium SS7/15,
Taman Bandaran,
47301 Kelana Jaya.

Please, I can manage well, thank you!

2008-12-15T00:25:00.006+08:00

Today was a very lagging day....Slept late last night after watching Eagle Eyes and Narnia Chronicles: Prince Caspian back to back.

And I tell you, Prince Caspian is damn HOT!!..haha.. Enjoyed the Narnia Chronicles's second movie but in this movie there was less 'kick' compared to the first movie.

Eagle's eyes was a let down though. With Shia LaBeouf starring in it, I thought it will be more or less up to the my viewing standard (mine considerably low). But guess not. The beginning of the movie was even boring to be frank.

Back to my title of the blog today, I wanted to say this to the Uncle who 'helped' us changed tyre just this evening, which I did not really asked for it. He just 'happened' to walk to us and 'naturally' taken over our tyre changing task. Kept asking us to go to the nearest SHELL station to pump air for our spare tyre.

He just kept nagging about ''where to put the jack", ''tyre is punctured'' (like I cant see it), have to do this la do that la. And all he did was just take out the tyre and help us screwed it back.

We did thank him 3 times but he did not seem to hear it. Well, at least we said it.

All I wanted to say is, " Please, females can change tyres too, Pakcik!!''

Orchids

2008-12-12T22:25:00.005+08:00

Today I've decided to blog about my favourite flower : Orchids!!! apart from tulips, daisies, lilies and sunflower. Haha.

First and foremost, is this Big big white white de orchid...Haha...It is called Phalaenopsis orchids, here we call it Miss White. It does remind me of Queen Amidala in Star Wars.

The orchid is just so elegant and graceful. I would want to hold a bouquet of this orchid while walking down the isle one day towards my husband. Wah......

The first runner-up will be this curly-pinkish+purplish orchid. Haha...Obviously it is from a different species from the champion, Miss White. But then due to it's uniqueness, it managed to grab the second place.

This one however, looked like the black fungus that we used in cooking. Haha... But in a more presentable way.

Next, the third place goes to......Jeng jeng jeng jeng...........

Another Phalaenopsis orchid, this time with purple spots all over like got measles. Haha..Nevertheless, it does not affect the rating of this orchid. If only my mom can see these orchids. It will be the same reaction me meeting LeeHom....BREATHLESS.... PRICELESS... and for everything else, there's always Mastercard. (the advertisement)

'Quarantine' should really be quarantined

2008-12-09T21:22:00.001+08:00

Watched "Quarantine" yesterday with a few of my friends. As a good citizen, I strongly believed that I need to write a review on this movie.

The movie's trailer was really interesting and I must say, just like any movie that sucks, all the nice bits in the movie is already in the trailer and nothing more is left for us to see.

First thing, is the "ever-so-terrible" shooting method of the movie which is so damn shaky and guess what, I was feeling air-sicked in less than half an hour. One of my friend even went outside the cinema to take some fresh air. I thought I was going through a mighty air turbulent of some kind.

Imagine going through road like this in a very old van cramped with 10 other people.
That was how I felt........

The movie plot was quite alright, not very long and boring. And there are a few scary moments there where we really got scared out of our seat. If only we were not too air sick , we could have really ENJOY the movie.

For those who has severe air sick, car sick , train sick , bus sick, lrt sick and so forth, it is my duty to advice you not to risk your precious life.

Christmas....soon.....

2008-12-08T22:39:00.003+08:00

Went out for movie at Mid Valley today despite the heavy rain fall. And as always, there are a lot of the "ever-so-evil-but-yet-inviting" four letter word, SALE all over the place. Of course this time I was well controlled. Haha...

Another thing that I notice was all the cute and warm Christmas decor in and out the shopping centre. Ever since my first year in UPM I made frequent visits to the Megamall when the Christmas decor is up. The little girl that resides in me just love to see all the tall tall Christmas tree and the mistletoe and all the colourful bells hanging from the tree

The Christmas mood is really in the air. The kids are especially happy around the Christmas tree and parents are busy taking pictures of their kids posing in front of the tree. So cute.....

This year for sure I will miss the Christmas time where we gathered in Aming's place and exchanged our presents. Not forgetting the ever-so-delicious turkey and lasagna......mouth watery........

My wish for this year's Christmas is a new handphone ..... volunteers anyone??????

Year End Sale is here.....

2008-12-06T18:14:00.001+08:00

Went to Sunway Pyramid today.....and boy, my most feared 3 words are appearing everywhere ---- "Year End Sale!!!"

Ahhhhhhh.......and my eye sight are super duper good allowing me to spot the discount signs from very far.... then my limbs will start to do the reflex response they were designed to do...

Without me realizing it, I will end up in front of the shop and my hands started to do "lau sang" in the discounted stuff zone. Usually, i will be able to find something of my liking...and there goes my Ever-so-hard-earned-cash......